Sports Psychology
William Carolan
English 838
William Carolan
Sports & School
Students and athletes, have different types of stressors and coping mechanisms. As the authors of the book Mind Gym, Gary Mack and David Casstevens point out in their stories the many stressors athletes face and ways athletes deal with stressors and what they do to succeed or to get better. Or the stressors they face and how it affects they’re ability both physically and mentally. Believe it or not if you read some of the stories in Mind Gym, when you think about it some, or maybe most of the stressors athletes face. Are the same type of stressors we students face stressors such as self-motivation, money, time, tests and essays. As students, we all may have coping strategies but what if I were to tell you that most of the psychological practices that athletes use. Can also be beneficial for students to help them to do better in school. We might use sport psychology strategies to motivate ourselves to do better to do better in school, thus so we can do better in school and we’ll have a better chance of getting the job of our dreams.
Essays or tests can be a huge stressor for many college students, for it may be hard to think of something that would be considered exceptional to their professors. Also, it is hard for some students to think of something good to write about or may have a hard time planning it out; a good coping strategy for writing essays is practice. For tests, some students may have a harder time with preparing for tests than others, as they might be more forgetful of things they studied. Practice would be a great coping strategy for students who have a hard time with essays and tests. Practice is a coping for all athletes; how do you think notorious athletes like Tiger Woods, Lebron James, or Tom Brady become great at what they do is practice. When they are having problems with an aspect of the game they are playing they will practice for hours on end, until they get their flaws perfected; however, if they don’t practice they won’t get better. For student’s, practice is a great coping strategy because if you have a hard time with writing essays or doing tests. Then practice on an essay such as write a rough draft or brainstorm your ideas then try to connect them into an essay format. Also if you have a hard time with tests, study with a friend and have him or her ask you questions on the material you’ve just covered, make flashcards, and take plenty of notes. You have to practice, practice is the key to success, to perfect something, and like what Magic Johnson said “Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers”(65).
Some other stressors many students and may face would be emotional stress caused by such as whom may have better grades, people and who may get a better paying job, other words students may feel that they can’t do something, or are not as smart as other students or they may feel they will never be as good as there fellow companions, or that they will not make as much money as their class-mates, or team-mates. This is a problem many students especially Community College students face; because sometimes students feel like that they will not succeed because they are having a problem with finding the need to want succeed. For instance, students may be having a hard time with a subject they are taking, so they may feel to just drop the class, so they feel like it is best to just give up, or sometimes for some students they may feel that college is a waste of time, because it’s to hard and that they should just drop out and get a full-time, minimum wage job, for the rest of their life. Or that there class mates are getting better grades than them in certain subjects than them, and no matter how hard they try they feel like they’ll never be better than their fellow class-mates. The author of this essay William Carolan had this problem, he used to believe that he will never be as good as his friends who have gone on to Universities who may get a degree before him; however he realized something he should stop comparing yourself to others, be the best you can be. People shouldn’t worry about others when it comes to whose better at something, or who may make more money.
Instead students should just work as hard as they can at something they have a problem with, work at your own comfortable pace, just do the best you can, and don’t worry about who may get the better paying job, do something you love doing and do it. Be optimistic, like what Muhammad Ali said in Mind Gym “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best, and even if you’re not believe you are”(112). Athletes would have this problem also; they may have a hard time with one or multiple aspects of the sport there playing, and they can’t find a way to fix their problems. Or sometimes they feel like there not good enough, or that they will not do better than the other players and there’s nothing they can do about it. A funny example of two people who may be like this would be the Manning brothers, they probably wonder sometimes whose the better quarter back, who there fans like better or maybe even their mom, and who may be worth more. Athletes overcome this obstacle with practice and motivation from their fans and family. A great coping strategy for this obstacle for students would be planning, what I mean by planning is when you’re having motivation problems. Is to set a goal for yourself; tell yourself that though you may not want to do something because it’s too hard; remember that in the end that this was worth it, you need to do it. Like what Muhammad Ali said in Mind Gym, “It’s a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself” (112).
So you see sports and school, are some what related when you think about it because both must require dedication and you have to put your heart into both to be successful at both of them. If you don’t practice or motivate yourself, you’re not going to do well in school or sports; thus if you don’t do well in school you will have a hard time getting a good job or getting into a good college, also if you don’t practice or put your heart into the sport your playing you’ll never get better, thus eventually you will end up becoming a bad player. In other words if you want something, if you want something in life no one will just give it to you, you have to go get it yourself.
English 838
William Carolan
Sports & School
Students and athletes, have different types of stressors and coping mechanisms. As the authors of the book Mind Gym, Gary Mack and David Casstevens point out in their stories the many stressors athletes face and ways athletes deal with stressors and what they do to succeed or to get better. Or the stressors they face and how it affects they’re ability both physically and mentally. Believe it or not if you read some of the stories in Mind Gym, when you think about it some, or maybe most of the stressors athletes face. Are the same type of stressors we students face stressors such as self-motivation, money, time, tests and essays. As students, we all may have coping strategies but what if I were to tell you that most of the psychological practices that athletes use. Can also be beneficial for students to help them to do better in school. We might use sport psychology strategies to motivate ourselves to do better to do better in school, thus so we can do better in school and we’ll have a better chance of getting the job of our dreams.
Essays or tests can be a huge stressor for many college students, for it may be hard to think of something that would be considered exceptional to their professors. Also, it is hard for some students to think of something good to write about or may have a hard time planning it out; a good coping strategy for writing essays is practice. For tests, some students may have a harder time with preparing for tests than others, as they might be more forgetful of things they studied. Practice would be a great coping strategy for students who have a hard time with essays and tests. Practice is a coping for all athletes; how do you think notorious athletes like Tiger Woods, Lebron James, or Tom Brady become great at what they do is practice. When they are having problems with an aspect of the game they are playing they will practice for hours on end, until they get their flaws perfected; however, if they don’t practice they won’t get better. For student’s, practice is a great coping strategy because if you have a hard time with writing essays or doing tests. Then practice on an essay such as write a rough draft or brainstorm your ideas then try to connect them into an essay format. Also if you have a hard time with tests, study with a friend and have him or her ask you questions on the material you’ve just covered, make flashcards, and take plenty of notes. You have to practice, practice is the key to success, to perfect something, and like what Magic Johnson said “Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers”(65).
Some other stressors many students and may face would be emotional stress caused by such as whom may have better grades, people and who may get a better paying job, other words students may feel that they can’t do something, or are not as smart as other students or they may feel they will never be as good as there fellow companions, or that they will not make as much money as their class-mates, or team-mates. This is a problem many students especially Community College students face; because sometimes students feel like that they will not succeed because they are having a problem with finding the need to want succeed. For instance, students may be having a hard time with a subject they are taking, so they may feel to just drop the class, so they feel like it is best to just give up, or sometimes for some students they may feel that college is a waste of time, because it’s to hard and that they should just drop out and get a full-time, minimum wage job, for the rest of their life. Or that there class mates are getting better grades than them in certain subjects than them, and no matter how hard they try they feel like they’ll never be better than their fellow class-mates. The author of this essay William Carolan had this problem, he used to believe that he will never be as good as his friends who have gone on to Universities who may get a degree before him; however he realized something he should stop comparing yourself to others, be the best you can be. People shouldn’t worry about others when it comes to whose better at something, or who may make more money.
Instead students should just work as hard as they can at something they have a problem with, work at your own comfortable pace, just do the best you can, and don’t worry about who may get the better paying job, do something you love doing and do it. Be optimistic, like what Muhammad Ali said in Mind Gym “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best, and even if you’re not believe you are”(112). Athletes would have this problem also; they may have a hard time with one or multiple aspects of the sport there playing, and they can’t find a way to fix their problems. Or sometimes they feel like there not good enough, or that they will not do better than the other players and there’s nothing they can do about it. A funny example of two people who may be like this would be the Manning brothers, they probably wonder sometimes whose the better quarter back, who there fans like better or maybe even their mom, and who may be worth more. Athletes overcome this obstacle with practice and motivation from their fans and family. A great coping strategy for this obstacle for students would be planning, what I mean by planning is when you’re having motivation problems. Is to set a goal for yourself; tell yourself that though you may not want to do something because it’s too hard; remember that in the end that this was worth it, you need to do it. Like what Muhammad Ali said in Mind Gym, “It’s a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself” (112).
So you see sports and school, are some what related when you think about it because both must require dedication and you have to put your heart into both to be successful at both of them. If you don’t practice or motivate yourself, you’re not going to do well in school or sports; thus if you don’t do well in school you will have a hard time getting a good job or getting into a good college, also if you don’t practice or put your heart into the sport your playing you’ll never get better, thus eventually you will end up becoming a bad player. In other words if you want something, if you want something in life no one will just give it to you, you have to go get it yourself.